Bitcoin Pyramid Scheme Suspects Sentenced in South Korea

Two accused men in South Korea are being sentenced for creating a pyramid scheme that ran on Bitcoin and ended up swindling some 20 billion Korean won from its investors. According to a judge from Seoul’s Incheon District Court, the two were issues with fines of $8 million and $15 million respectively on April 19th.

The two fraudsters are believed to have started their scheme in 2015 before building up a multilevel company that promised potential investors of high returns if they invested in Bitcoin.

Stern Warning

On the judgement day, the judge was stern in his ruling, noting that what they were getting involved in was high risk and they did this knowingly with the intention of swindling unsuspecting investors. He noted:

The multi-level transaction is a risk to the socioeconomic order with mass production of many victims,

The judge gave the fines to the accused based on the considerable amount they are believed to have amassed from their victims. This report comes hot on the heels of a report from China stating that it had tightened the noose on multi-level marketing schemes that had mushroomed in the country under the guise of being Bitcoin investments. As such, the Chinese police caught up with the founders of a popular nationwide pyramid that ran under this pretence. It is believed that this scheme had amassed well over $13 million from over 13,000 victims.